Books Read - 2005

My
recent, current, and forthcoming reading is covered elsewhere,
here's what I read in 2005:

Richard Barber: Bestiary

Beautifully illustrated translation of a mediaeval book of beasts from
the Bodlian Library, Oxford.

Anne Mustoe: Lone Traveller

Tales from the author's second solo cycling trip around the world. Easy
reading and vivid depictions of experiences on the road. The main focus
of this volume is the human encounters and the author's open-hearted humanity
lights up every chapter. Mustoe's sheer ordinariness (she walks up the
hills, hates camping and can't effect even the simplest of repairs) makes
it easy to identify with her in spite of the extraordinarness of the situations
she describes.

Terry Pratchett: The Fifth Elephant

Vimes turns diplomat in this installment of the Discworld saga. We get
a helter-skelter ride through the dwarf lands with a large werewolf element
on the side, while Pratchett makes telling observations on the nature and
function of tradition in society. Vimes, Carrot and the rest of the Ankh
Morpork City Watch are on great form throughout. Well above average for
the series, highly recommended.

William Fotheringham: Put me back
on my bike

Biography of Tom Simpson, the most successful professional cyclist Britain
has yet produced. While much of the book, inevitably, focusses on Simpson's
death and the subject of doping, a picture does also emerge of a talented
and driven character whose charm and charisma matched his herioc exploits
in the saddle. An eye-opener for me was the evidence of Simpson's high
standing within his profession: recognised as an established star of the
peleton by his continental peers. Readable and intelligent writing makes
this a rewarding read.

J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and
the Half-Blood Prince

The penultimate Harry Potter book returns to the familiar school setting
and school concerns after the departures that marked the previous
volume.
Utterly involving wrtiting, as always but perhaps there's a sense that
this episode is marking time and setting everything up for the series finale.

Edward Heath: Music, A Joy for
Life

Memoir of highlights in the musical life of the one-time British PM.
Probably of little interest to those without an interest in, or affection
for, Ted himself.

David Crystal: The Cambridge Encyclopedia
of Language

It's the amazing breadth of this tomb, which looks at the study of language
from every conceivable angle, that makes it unfailingly interesting. Some
of the sections are more superficial surveys than others but, at best,
it's a comprehensive introduction to the topics involved. A mine of information
that's rewarding to read straight through as well as a valuable reference.

Terry Pratchett: Carpe Jugulum

Granny Weatherwax resorts to desperate measures when a new generation
of vampires bring a more radical approach to their relationship with humanity.
Having some time ago left behind the laugh-out-loud gags, Pratchett has
developed a style of story telling that's not always straightforward to
follow but here, at least, the pace and invention don't let up for a moment.
Great fun and continually thought-provoking.

Matt Rendell: A Significant Other

The book's front-cover tag-line, "Riding the Centenary Tour de France
with Lance Armstrong", conceals the fact that, intertwined with the
memoir of the race provided by Armstrong's team mate Victor Hugo Peña,
is a meditation on the fundamental nature of the unusually-structured sport
of the European professional cycling circuit. Both aspects of the book
are equally fascinating and this could be the best insight I've yet read
into the real experience of riding in the European pro peleton.

Jane Fletcher: The Wrong Trail
Knife

SF novel, with a murder mystery at its core, set in the same world as
the author's debut The World Celeano Chose. As the book unfolds,
we gradually learn more and more of the history of the leading character
but it's not until the very end that the full truth is finally revealed.
Fletcher leads us entertainingly up several false trails along the way
with vivid accounts of the characters' lives. This is the same book that's
now available under the title Rangers at Roadsend.

Elizabeth David: Of Pageants & Picnics

Number 14 of the series of seventy "Pocket Penguins", slim volumes
issued as part of the celebration of the famous publishers' seventieth
anniversary. This, drawn from a number of David's books, looks at summer
dining from a number of angles. Very satisfying writing from an expert
author.

William Boyd: Protobiography

Number 55 of the series of seventy "Pocket Penguins", slim volumes
issued as part of the celebration of the famous publishers' seventieth
anniversary. This collection picks out significant eras of Boyd's early
life in a sequence of varied and fascinating essays.

Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins: Every
Second Counts

Jenkins again does a workmanlike job of giving us the Armstrong-eye-view of
the life of the most successful Tour de France rider ever. The emphasis,
this time around, is very much one of showing a more human side to Armstrong's
single-minded pursuit of his goals.

Humphrey Carpenter: Spike Milligan

Carpenter writes in a elaxed, informal style that's really easy to read.
This biography paints a rather sad picture of a man whose life, like his
work, was extraordinarily uneven.

Erskine Childers: The Riddle of
the Sands

Classic sailing adventure set among the sandbanks and islands of the German
North Sea coast. Written to alert England to the danger of a German invasion
in the opening years of the twentieth century.

Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night Time

Young people's detective novel. Written from the perspective of its 15
year old hero who has Ausberger's syndrome. The plot has several unexpected
turns and the attempt to show the world through autistic eyes is fascinating
and enlightening for adults as well as children.

Carol Anne Lee: Roses from the
Earth

Highly readable biography of Anne Frank, the German Jewish girl whose
famous diary (written as a teenager in hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam)
captured the attention of the world. This book covers Anne's early years
in Germany, her family's exile in the Netherlands, their betrayal, Anne's
death in the Holocaust and beyond.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Sign
of Four

Second of the book-length Holmes stories. Holmes takes a break from cocaine
to solve a murder linked to a treasure brought back from India and Watson
finds love along the way.

J.E. Austen-Leigh: A Memoir of
Jane Austen

The great woman's nephew contributes a slim volume of reflections on the
life and times of his aunt and a small selection of her letters. Both elements
of the book provide interesting social context to the worlds that Jane
Austen inhabited and depicted in her novels.

Giles Gordon (ed.): Shakespeare
Stories

Stories by twenty modern British writers. Each is inspired by, or derived
from, Shakespeare's life and works. The quality is as uneven as the approaches
are varied but on the whole this is an interesting, often amusing and occasionally
enlightening read.